10-30-2016, 09:29 AM
000 RETCONNED
Dazenth ) A man in his early 20's leans against the corner of a building on the outskirts of Antriquel, a large motorcycle a few feet away from him and a large blade strapped to his back. His black jacket hides the bright color of his orange shirt as he watches the few people nearby from the shadows. Or, rather, his turquoise gaze is focused on one in particular. There are a few people near that could be problematic, but it's not as if he can't outrun them. The man jumps onto the motorcycle, which starts up with a quiet hum, and he unsheathes the blade- a large, yellowish one with a green energy cell about midway down. The cell glows briefly, but it won't be needed here. Dazenth lowers the blade like a jousting pole... and the motorcycle suddenly speeds forward at an incredible acceleration, the blade ripping through the poor victim almost instantly as Dazenth speeds away before anyone can really react.
Lance ) "What the hell?" Lance mumbled as the gruesome scene happened before his eyes, faster than he could do anything about it. Everyone around Lance was screaming and running away, but he just stood there -- at first in shock, but then he began to take something out of his oversized backpack. First came a strange set of goggles, then the gloves, one of which was already hanging outside the backpack. Putting on the gloves, then the goggles, he began to let his curiosity get the better of him.
Azar ) Watching from a nearby bench, the hooded and robed figure of Azar--with only feline ears and a tail protruding to give a rudimentary idea of exactly what he was, could be seen sitting one moment, then near-spontaneously standing the next. With a sandy furred hand over where his eyes would be if they were visible, he watched as Dazenth lowered his blade, then simply drove right through his victim. He scoffed. "Pffft, amateur."
Lance: "Power on." he said flatly, and in front of him the black turned to a blue-tinted visual of the area as recorded with the camera connected to the goggles. "Connect to camera network," he said as it booted up fully. From here he'd be able to track the guy. Sure it was dangerous, but he was far to curious about this guy. To be audacious enough to kill someone in public... After swiping through several screens, he finall found him driving through the screens, and followed the general path he took
Dazenth sheathes his blade again before driving into more populated and busy areas of the city, a motorcycle helmet now on his head. "Too easy," He mutters, glancing at a display near the speedometer of his motorcycle as he slows slightly. The hits really were getting easy- all in a day's work, and pay is pay, but sometimes he craves a little challenge. /Ah well. Better find the contractee soon. Sooner I tell him the target's down, sooner I get paid./
Kiramire )In the height of the day, high boots clacked through the masses with ease. A white tail tipped with a dark grey patch of fur waved through as a pair of white fox ears twitched in the presence of many foreign noises. Walking among the masses dressed in a heavy dark grey dress jacket and long stockings was none other than Ms. Kiramire Alkerheim glaring down each person with an intense scarlet authoritarian look. Her white hair flowed through the winds as she then stopped and put down the blunt end of her blade to the ground, then turning her head at the road to observe a speeding man in his motorcycle. But that was the least of her concerns as she senses a body drop right in front of her, shivering in fear as the crowds ignored the two in broad daylight. They didn't exist. Kiramire's voice called out to the man, human and in his 40s, cowering just a few inches away from her very feet. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes narrow, a slight imprint of energy escaping her irises.
Azar , after a brief laugh at the situation, fumbled around in a well-hidden pocket in his robe, and pulled out a cleverly-disguised digital timepiece. "Fuck. Forgot I have to meet him soon." he said, remembering his meeting with a possible client in town. A smile would be visible beneath the hood if anything was visible. "Best get going, then." With a rather mute flash of light, he seemed to vanish.
Kiramire: Person: *Out of sheer fear, the man does not look directly at her. Instead his hands dart up and clasp together* Ms. Al-Alkerheim....I was told to look for you...t-to confess the sins I have just made to betray your trust. *He cries out. The crowds of people moving past them kept going without any clue* I-I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY I SPOKE! THEY PROMISED A PLEA DEAL AND NOW SVEN IS IN PRISON!
Kiramire finally inches her head down slightly to see the man. A cold glare soon ensued. "How much was it?" The man looked up with a confused expression. Kiramire expanded on her query. "How much was it to sell out that poor man?" Several whizzing noises pierced the open atmosphere, causing some of the concrete they were standing on to crack slightly. She looks at the man with intensifying disgust.
Dazenth comes to a fluid halt in front of an alley, another man already standing there, as if waiting exactly for Dazenth. The mercenary doesn't get off of his motorcycle or remove the helmet, simply watching the man in return. There are a few seconds of silence, before the contractee grins slightly. "That was fast."
Omen ) A lone figure watched the chaos unfold, sitting on the roof of a nearby building. In appearance, he was monochromatic, from his white and black hair, to the grey and black clothes he wore. Even his eyes were gray, riddled with a tooth-like pattern transitioning from the iris to the pupil. But his eyes showed an uncaring expression, as unlike the panicking people below, he could care less that someone was killed out of the blue. In fact, he seemed more interested in rearranging twelve of the thirteen black rings scattered across his fingers. "What a pointless ruckus," he spoke. "It's just someone dying. It's not like it's the end of the world or anything." He then glanced back down as someone was now shouting about a completely unrelated matter. He sighed as his arrangements seemed to be completed, and got onto his feet. "Well, it definitely looks like nothing interesting is happening here." He glanced in the direction he saw the motorcyclist drive off in. "... However..."
Kiramire: Person: F-Forty six....thousand.......th​ats how much they o--- *Suddenly he feels the ridiculous power of the woman's hand grabbing onto his hair and forcing him to look up. The roots of his hair along with some pieces of skin began to rip right off as a mess of blood began to flow down his forehead* Ms-- MS. ALKERHEIM!! *There he saw it. Her eyes dripping with venom. Yet her expression was a solid neutral. Regal. Unwavering*
Dazenth doesn't move. "It was easy enough. I left the body there, but I'm sure you'll hear about it in the news." Another several seconds of silence. "Now, my pay?"
Lance sees on one of the screens that the motorcycle rider has stopped. Even as he was walking, Lance motioned his finger to a button that only he could see that would activate sound in the area of the camera, picking up signals from the camera itself, and whatever other technology happened to be nearby. "Now what are you doing?"
Dazenth: ???: Ah right, of course... *The man reaches into a jacket pocket and pulls out a pouch and a small box.* ... But, be patient for a minute or so, /Mourning Blade/ as you call yourself. *Dazenth narrows his eyes, but says nothing.* I have another job for you, but I'm waiting on someone first.
Azar ) Breaking out of his light-masked run with yet another flash, Azar slowed to a stop behind the man Dazenth was meeting with. He chuckled with no audible undertone. "I'm here. What did you--" he says, cutting himself off when he realised who else was there, "... you're here too? I wasn't told there was more than one."
Kiramire gently throws up her blade and connects her right palm on the side of the man's head. With one swift turn the man's head cracks and is then completely ripped off. The woman tosses the useless part aside as she turns her back. "Disgusting how loyalty can be marred by mere greed." Kiramire looked back and spat aside, then putting out her hand to catch the blade. Her entire demenor was solid at best, almost as if she has seen or done this before. The event of blood pouring out the torn flesh and bone of such a beheading did not phase her. Rather, it kept her gaze calm and focused. Intrigued, more like it. Her open hand began to build up a swirling vortex of an orange colored energy while she turned her head back. /The fool complicated things for us. Tch./ And with a swift motion, several fragments of mana began engulfing the man, consuming him completely as the crimson sanguine liquid began to flow right towards her gloves. Kiramire gave a nod and began walking away. Her hand gave another wave, revealing nothing left in the area except a wavering field in space. They were cloaked the entire time.
Dazenth ignores Azar, but the contractee nods with a chuckle before tossing the pouch at the motorcyclist, who catches it easily. "I need this box delivered to a certain address, and I need it done tonight. You'll both be paid, of course. If you can do it without damaging or losing the contents of the box."
Azar cracks a smile, albeit it isn't visible from underneath his hood. "Not a problem." Waving his hand, he seemed to blink in front of the man. "The address?"
Dazenth: ???: *Hands a slip of paper to Azar with the address on it* I also have a third person to serve as an escort of sorts to ensure the safety of the box. You will meet her tonight.
--- Timeskip ---
Dazenth speeds through the nighttime streets of Antriquel, the streetlights gleaming off of the side of his motorcycle. With Azar behind him, the box in a side compartment, and a girl who simply introduced herself as "Cyclone" somewhere above them, the motorcyclist figures this job must be fairly easy. The contents of the box are probably valuable enough to warrant a team of three to deliver it, but why bother, really? It's just a glorified mail order.
Lance follows after the two, the gloves adjusting his route with each turn that they make. However, Lance was beginning to get out of breath. "I should really get out more," he said to nobody in particular. And it showed in his pale skin and very slim build. However, he was too curious to let up. At least he seemed to have shorter route to wherever they were going judging by how they were moving currently.
Omen ) Glancing toward the group as they sped forward, Omen made the last of his rearrangements to his rings. A second had passed, and the rings began to pulsate, and his hands became cloaked in a wavering, black mist. With a wave of his hands, this mist was hurled toward his intended targets. Some of this mist spread across the windows of the building, causing them to crack and eventually break into glass shards. Sections of the buildings it touched began to weaken. It seemed the intent of the mist was to bring misfortune to anything it touched. Which was what was about to happen to its intended targets.
Dazenth continues speeding, but a female voice comes through the radio on the bike. "Ground team, you have at least two tails, possibly a third. One's on the building you just passed." Cyclone's voice is urgent, and Dazenth glances back to see... the black mist... and a figure standing atop a building. "Get down!" he barks to Azar, before turning slightly, drawing his blade, and slashing it towards the figure. Several blades of green energy flies out towards the attacker, and the energy cell on the blade glows brightly. Dazenth makes a sharp turn to avoid the mist, planning to circle back and pick up his passenger again.
Azar 's ear twitched at the sound of glass breaking. Turning his head, he saw a strange black mist spreading, as wellas seemingly hurtling towards him and Dazenth. "... Mist doesn't do that..." he said, preparing to jump off the bike, "Break!" There was then a flash, and the next moment, Azar could be seen flying through the air, holding two ornately-decorated katar punching daggers.
Lance: "What was that?" Lance said as one of the cameras he was using to watch the group on the motorcycle was first covered in a strange mist, then went completely out, as if it were turned off -- or destroyed. "Track irregularity" he told the goggles. After several backtracking videos of a mist forming around the buildings, he thought he saw the source of it, but couldn't make out any figure. All he knew is that it was targetting the people on the motorcycle, probably after the package they carried. He began running to their location. It was only a few blocks away, so he'd have a little to time to figure out what he planned to do.
Omen watched as his targets reacted to this mist he had released, one of them leaping from the motorcycle, and the other targetting him with green energy blades. However, these blades would not hit their target as expected. In a blur, the blades countered and knocked back down. He soon became surrouned by a lengthy psychokinetic limb extending from his upper spine. He then glanced over to the person that had flown out from the motorcycle, seemingly uninterested in him as his eyes darted back down to the motorcyclist. "Deal with this one," he then spoke, seemingly to no one in particular as he then seemed to have vanished from his current location.
Dazenth circles back to where Azar leapt off, looking around. "You, get back on." As Dazenth scans the area for more opposition, Cyclone's voice comes through the radio again. "You didn't hit him. I think he may still be after you, but he's vanished. I'll take care of him when he appears; for now, get that box to the correct address before your other tails decide to catch up."
Kiramire unsheathed her blade when the sounds of the motorcycle were picked up by her ears. /There they are./ She closes her red-orange eyes while she kept walking down a street nearby the one Dazenth was on, seeming to build up her concentration to something in particular in the the air. Suddenly a couple of spacial ripples began to form above the motorcycle man and Azar. Briliant orange chains of mana began stabbing into the ground like anchors in front of Dazenth. Their overall forms wavering as a powerful blast of mana then traveled down the chains to form a powerful wall of force to blockade them. With each passing moment a couple more anchor chains shot down to the ground, then released blasts of mana towards their target. It seemed that the only way out of there was a lone street connecting to the one they were in.
Azar simply landed back on the motorcycle. Then, looking around at their current situation, he realised they were cordoned off... except for one sidestreet. He didn't like this one bit. "Don't attempt the sidestreet; I know enough to realise this is a trap."
Dazenth glances back at Azar as he drives several meters away from the blockade. "Don't think I know that? There's nowhere else to go, anyway." As soon as he finishes speaking, Cyclone chimes in again. "Don't worry about it, I'll cover you if they attack. Just don't lose the package." Dazenth nods silently, keeping his blade in one hand and steering the bike with the other, as he bolts down the sidestreet at an incredibly high speed.
Omen reappeared on a nearby building overlooking the sidestreet. Because of Kiramire's blockade, they were likely to come down this way in order to reach their destination. "Predictable," he muttered as he then released more of the mist toward the sidestreet. This time, it wasn't aimed for his targets, but the ground itself, causing the streets to suddenly buckle as the mist spread across it.
Dazenth speeds for the only exit anyway, crouching low on the motorcycle. The streets are buckling. He's headed straight for the mist. If he turns around now, he can definitely avoid it, but then he's trapped. As he weighs the pros and cons, suddenly a shimmering platform- no, a /ramp/- forms in front of him. His speed carries him onto it easily and he recognizes that this is a forcefield. What's more, the forcefield not only goes clean over the mist, but a ceiling and walls are quickly developing, effectively creating a tunnel for him. Cyclone is audibly giggling over the static of the radio. "That's it, you should be momentarily safe from that. Now keep going and don't slow down until you start falling--!" She says this last part as his momentum carries him straight out of the tunnel, flying high into the air to at least his assailant's level.
Kiramire jumps off the ledge of a building and lands gracefully at the ground. Her blade swished back as she could feel the vibrations of the motorcycle heading down the street at a constant high speed. Her intention wasn't much for fighting by her posture, it was more towards observing a couple of strange people tonight. Her eyes narrowed and glowed as her blade vanished. But then she felt a disturbance within her field of vibrational and mana sense reach. Something formed and the motorcycle was no longer there. Or was it. /Heh. Interesting? Interesting. They couldn't have vanished, no. They must still be there./ Kiramire smirked and began walking, effortlessly dodging every crack and piece of street that was buckling with relative ease. The erevan woman began to focus. Suddenly, a myriad of fine thin lines of mana manifested in front of Dazenth, particularly placed in a way to specifically ensnare whoever was in that particular space by the way they crossed and surrounded the man. Each thread also touched down on the ground and strengthened. "I suggest you all should respect those compressed tethers. As in...don't you dare cut them. You /will/ regret it." Kiramire called out with a firm, authorative voice to nobody in particular.
Omen watched as the motorcycle shot into the air as the rider managed to avoid the buckling streets. Still, they weren't completely out of the woods yet, as thin lines of mana appeared in front of the motorcylist in an attempt to capture him. Attempting to take advantage of this, he then spread more of the mist a few feet in front of him. He then sharpened the end of his psychokinetic limb, which then sped off, passing through the mist and becoming cloaked in it as it blurred toward its target's motorcycle.
Dazenth ) "Tch." He slows his fall, attempting to pivot his bike in midair- but, almost impossibly, the same shimmering platform formed in front and below him, providing a hasty escape from the path that would have taken him into the trap. The path forms several meters in front of him as he goes along, creating a shining, floating road just for him high above the nighttime city. This must look like quite a spectacle from below, but he doesn't care. The cyclist's attention is drawn away as /missles/ appear from a seemingly random point in the sky, aiming to both intercept Omen's vector attack and pummel the Diclonius himself. "Stay on the move," Cyclone orders, her voice suddenly sharp. Looks like she's snapped into focus now.
Lance ) Everything was happening so fast. This was way more than anything Lance had dealt with before -- he wasn't used to doing stuff like this. However, both sides seemed to have some unseen support. However, the motorcycle group's support was far more mysterious. The new structures -- and now missiles -- appearing before the driver... Lance had to find their source. He then began to scour through camera after camera, dozens by the second, until he saw... something in the sky.
Lance holds out his hands in front of him. "Drones, activate." With that commands, small robots began to detach from his gloves. "Investigate anomaly seen in camera 463." Immediately, they began to fly off into the direction of whatever it was that Lance saw. "Prepare Tesla coils, in case of hostility."
Omen glanced up as he noticed a- no, several objects being launched toward him. Missiles, perhaps? "Tch." The target was getting away, but at the same time, these missiles presented a problem. But soon, they were in striking distance. For him. His psychokinetic shot upward to intercept and destroyed the missiles. But even one of them would be enough for this task. Suddenly, something else blurred from his upper spine. A second psychokinetic races to destroy the missiles the first could not. He then retracted both of the limbs as he then focused back upon his retreating target. He then shot one of his limbs in a different direction, its edge sharpened as it pierced into a building. He then began to pull himself toward the edge of his limb. As he was close enough to it, he shot his second limb toward another building and retracted the first as he then began to repeat this process in an attempt to catch up to the rider.
Dazenth ) "Turn a sharp left, away from the building. I need to see if those things have a finite range." Cyclone's voice is as focused as before, and Dazenth nods. His path veers away from the Diclonius and starts to take a steep climb, while the path behind him fades out. Cyclone is about to issue more orders when... something approaches her by air, hits an invisible wall, and disintegrates. Drones from one of the ground tails, who she had not before noticed. The girl mutters a quiet curse, checks on Dazenth's status, and veers away from her previous position. She made a mistake with the missiles, but her forcefields are keeping her hidden. For now at least. "Ascend ten meters more and continue course to the destination."
Kiramire did not even react to the tethers being avoided. Her footing kept at a solid pace while her lips parted. Kiramire began taking in breaths at a specific interval and manner, letting out concentrated and compressed exhales through her teeth. /Alright./ She thinks, then as she takes another breath, a swirl of mana began developing under her boots. Sparks of the energy danced around while the Ereva woman kept her breaths consistant. With her fingers curling inwards, the sparks traveled up her body until a single finger pointed up at the sky. "Go." Then a flash happened as one would if someone were taking a picture with a camera. With all the mana around Kiramire, the initial flash was a medium used to extend her perception and range by a lot. Anything that was a solid highlighted as a black silhouette for a split second. While its range expanded, Kiramire closed her eyes and saw the reaches of the flash in her mind. She saw Dazenth's silhouette, Omen's, and two new people she had not truly given her effort or attention to. Retracting her finger, she breaks off to a sprint. Kiramire begins to will the mana around her to form individual javelin projectiles to shoot up at the sky, particularly at Cyclone as a test measure of her abilities.
Omen continued his chase after the rider, watching him make a sharp left turn and... steeply ascend? /He's going to climb out of my range.../ He looked up toward the rider, and as he did, he began to consider something. /... Hrm... But even then, with how fast he's going.../ Still, it was an idea, and he had to try something to slow this guy down. He glanced up, trying to find a good position behind the motorcylist. He then retracted both of his psychokinetic limbs. As he began to descend, he then extended both of his hands in the direction of his descent. He then created a portal in this spot, which he then fell into. A new portal then appeared several meters above and behind the motorcylists, from his he emerged. His two psychokinetic limbs, the edges of which where sharpened and cloaked in the black mist, reemerged from his upper spine and shot toward the motorcycle.
Dazenth glances at the sky where Cyclone must be as a barrage of Javelins shoots towards a particular point in empty space. The different panels of the forcefield that keeps her hidden light up as they are stricken- one shatters and is instantly replaced- And Cyclone makes a noise of consternation. "Tch. This is bad. We're getting attacked from all sides, and while my forcefields will keep attacks to myself at bay, I'm not sure I'll have the power reserves to keep both of us in perfect-- WATCH OUT!" Dazenth turns at the exact moment Cyclone shouts this, blades of glowing green energy slashing at the Diclonius as Dazenth purposefully veers off the course Cyclone had set up for him, falling at a speed even gravity should not manage. He should get out of the vector range easily, but how in hell did that guy catch up so fast? Dazenth is forced to worry about his immediate situation, though, and keeps an eye on the approaching ground. Hell, he has to time this right if he wants to both stay out of range and survive the impact.
Kiramire could feel the javelins impact an unseen force, causing her lips to curve slightly. Without a word she places herself close by to where Cyclone was stationed at as her eyes glowed. /Mirror's edge./ On cue, spacial distortions began forming, causing curved "mirrors" of mana to manifest arround Cyclone, more specifically at her forcefield. The javelins kept coming as she then flicked her wrist, causing the compressed force of mana within the projectiles to increase. When they hit their intended target, they immediately shot back down towards the mirrors. The curvature of such mirrors allowed the javelins to slingshot right back up to keep repeating the same barrage of overwhelming attacks and at the same time increasing their velocity with each passing moment they made contact with the mirrors.
Lance ) One of the drones went offline. Lance knew immediately it had been destroyed, but by what? His answer came when he saw the javelins of energy strike the otherwise barely visible field. "So that's it. I wonder how you deal with this." He said, referring to whoever was in that field. "Access power grid." With that, a map came up in his fieldof vision, showing how power was connected to the area. He then moved his hand so that it would touch areas of the power grid, creating a large area that was highlighted. "Cut power to these areas. Disable backup generators." Lance smiled. Within just theamount of time it would take substations to power down, nearly the entire district would go dark. Of course, with his system, it wouldn't hinder himself at all. Surely this would at least slow him down. If it didn't, it would definitely make him more vulnerable
Omen curved his psychokinetic limbs back toward himself to deflect the energy blades. He then focused back his falling target, retracting his psychokinetic limbs as he then opened a new portal beneath himself. His psychokinetic limbs retracted, blurring into the portal as he fell into it himself. The limbs shot out of a new portal closer to the ground, slashing at the ground several times before wrapping around a nearby lamppost. As this occured, the mist cloaking the edges of the limbs spread onto the streets, causing it to buckle as he was dragged toward the lamppost. He allowed himself to be swung around the lamppost, and landed on the side of a nearby building as both limbs remained latched onto it.
Dazenth hears frustrated grumblings from the other end of the radio as Cyclone attempts to deflect the javelins and the cyclist's assailant follows him down. "That thing has a /lethal range/ of at least twenty meters, attempt to maintain double that distance." Cyclone is flustered. He hears an extremely static-corrupted curse from her end as his motorcycle slows dramatically, lightly touches ground, and zips off at an incredible speed, using the bumps in the damaged street to gain momentum and height. It's like a skateboard obstacle course, but on a much larger scale. All he knows is two things. One, the radio has now gone to dead static. Two, he needs to stay as far away as possible from an enemy that can apparently portal around to follow him and has such a long lethal range. Dazenth crouches down lower to the handlebars, trying to outspeed his pursuer. "This job better pay well," he mutters.
Dazenth: *Cyclone, meanwhile, is having her own difficulties. Once she realizes what is happening, she insteads send out missiles to destroy the oncoming attack instead of letting them deflect and rebound. She glances at Dazenth's status screen and bites her lip. "That thing has a /lethal range/ of at least twenty meters, attempt to maintain double that distance." And suddenly the missiles begin to slow in frequency and speed. Is her power...? ... No, it's charged, but it seems to be getting cut off, and now the area in general is going dark. Her displays dim momentarily and she understands what is happening. "... Shit." Thankfully, she is being kept afloat by magic, not electricity, but her forcefields... Cyclone bites her lip again. She had no choice. Disconnecting from her skyborn powerstation, she begins to remove a long, almost flat, black object from the connector beside her. The power station begins to drop slowly. "... No choice." She removes the object entirely, and the power station plummets, but the girl herself seems to be floating down as lightly as a feather... though she is now visible.*
Omen retracted one of his psychokinetic limbs, and then glanced toward the path the motorcyclist had taken. He then rereleased his psychokinetic, aiming toward a nearby building. He then resumed his previous method of using his psychokinetic limbs to grapple between buildings to catch up with him. But with the motorcyclist speeding up in an attempt to stay out of his range, he had to get a bit more creative. At this point, he then began to create portals into which his psychokinetic limbs shot, being brought out slightly further ahead than previously.
Kiramire ) "So I've finally smoked you out. " A voice called out. The mirrors of mana began to distort before turning on Cyclone. A strange orange light began to shine on her form like stage lights before Kiramire slammed the end of her sheathed katana down on the ground and connected her gaze at the girl. Lips parted again in order to sustain her constant flow of strange breathing.
Variable || There as a loud hum as a vibration of distortional forces ripples through the one-way street Dazenth is currently in. It is a vertical wave with great slashing force, wide enough to crash into the motorcycle rider's entire mass, but he should be able to veer into either side to avoid it. A figure in the distance, standing in the middle of the darkening streets, lowers one his raised swords, his steel-colored eyes practically piercing into the path--or target, specifically. He should appear in any second now. No, more importantly, /it/ should be with him. He narrows his eyes, sending a command into the blade. /Initializing Axis Trace./ A ring of materialized information forms around the blade of the unused, black-colored sword, which contrasts with the gleaming metal of the other. It is quickly followed by a second, and a third. He readies the weapon, as if about to slash something invisible. "Time to end this."
Lance ) The lights of this district of antriquel dimmed quickly, and now it was nearly pitch black. However yet again one more thing appeared in the fray. "This just keeps getting bigger." Lance said with a slight whine as he looked at the drones' night mode screens. "Looks like I finally got in over my head. I wonder what side this one's on..." For a moment, Lance just stood there notsure what to do, but soon remembered thepackage once again. "All drones, go after the motorcycle and try to retrieve the package. Cut him off wherever possible." With that, the Drones began to fly off, in different diretions in case he turned unexpectedly. Lance sighed. "I guess I can't just give up now."
Dazenth narrowly avoids death several times over as he swerves around the vectors coming at him, but he's been doing this for years. Maybe not put up against psychokinetic limbs that move faster than he can see, but the principle is the same. A single wrong turn, being a split second too fast or too slow, and he's a corpse on a trash can with wheels. Once he has a clear shot he shoots forward, keeping an eye out for more attacks. A glance down most sidestreets reveal things he doesn't want to deal with, so he just moves forward. And then-- "Oh, what is /this/ shit now," Dazenth mutters. /Where do they keep coming from and how fucking valuable is this thing?/
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Lightly touches down, the object held before her. It is a fine, serrated longsword with a gleaming silver edge and ragged, almost key-like teeth.* I don't think you can take all the credit, *She says playfully, her gaze sliding momentarily to the man with the drones. Her eyes return to Kiramire.* Granted, though. You can smoke a beehive to get the bees to calm down, and you can capture them. *Her stance widens. She intends to fight.* I think this time, though, you might have found a hornet's nest.
Kiramire lifted up her blade and shifted it to her side. It's material was of an outworldly black that did not refract any light. No details what so ever could be made out on its surface. Though with Cyclone's words, Kiramire felt a little smirk form on her lips. Her enemy, her target, did not seem agitated nor afraid. She wanted to fight. Kiramire spread her feet out slightly and stood on her tip toes a bit in a preparating of what is to come. The girl's blade was an interesting one, causing her to narrow her eyes until speaking. "Well, I guess this is why they call me The Blackbird." Her blade goes up to the side of her face. "En garde."
Variable watches the motorcycle rider avoid the initial attack, as expected. "Array: Ignite." And he slashes at nothing with the readied blade, rings of magical code glowing a fiery red before disintegrating into nothing. The effect is instantaneous. A cluster of visible slashes rip through the air and spread outwards several meters in front of Dazenth's position, covering the entire width of the street and bursting into a sequence of explosions. Variable instantly starts forward at inhuman speed, both swords at the ready and on the look for the slightest change.
Omen heard a sudden loud hum, glancing down the street to noticing a wave coming from the direction both he and the motorcyclist were moving. And further down was a long figure. But he didn't concern himself with it that much, seeing as it was someone he knew. Someone he expected to be there anyway. /Just as expected./ He suddenly stopped himself on the side of a building as he then witnessed a series of explosions along the street, followed by the man charging toward their target. He rereleased his vector, cloaked in his black mist, sweeping it across the street behind the motorcyclist, and several paths into sidestreets. If the streets hadn't been damaged enough by the explosions, it was about to become considerably worse. Once this was accomplished, he then retracted his vector before launching it back toward the motorcyclist.
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Her own sword moves into a diagonal blocking position as Kiramire moves. Though thin, such a long sword must be too heavy for a girl of Cyclone's build to comfortably handly, but she wields it as if she had been her entire life.* I don't know what you want with the package, nor do I care. So let's just get this over with. *She lunges forward, barely touching the ground in her long jumping strides, before ending up in the air. Her knife-like blade comes crashing down for Kiramire's head, Cyclone pivoting in midair slightly in anticipaton of a counterattack.*
Dazenth continues moving forward. there's no going back, not with his former attacker behind him and an enemy rushing in from up ahead. But he sees the slashes about to cut off his route, blocking the only path he can take... The motorcyclist shakes his head. /Damn, do I really have to do this so early?/ There's nowhere to go. Or, rather, nowhere his enemy might expect him to go. Continuing to move forward, Dazenth twists to look behind him, aiming his sword at the road. His hand moves to grasp something near the hilt- a sort of second handle. Except it isn't a handle at all. Preparing himself for possible recoil, Dazenth squeezes the handle as if it were a trigger on a gun- and a burst of energy explodes out of the hole near the tip of the sword. The energy cell loses power dangerously, but the explosion propels him up and forwards, launching him over both the slashes and his attacker.
Variable leaps up, almost in sync with Dazenth's arc towards the sky. /Retrieving speed argument--/ The ground cracks under the pressure of the motion, with the black sword generating another magical ring around the blade as he does so. The other blade vibrates as his ascent reaches its peak of interception, generating visible disturbances in the air, and is then brought towards the rider in an incredibly powerful horizontal slash.
Kiramire anticipates the head on attack Cyclone seems to have prepared to do. Her quick observation of her posture and direction of her toes hinted of a direct attack, most likely to hit a vital of her body right away. Kiramire lets out a single breath as a low ringing hum sounded off, causing her concentration to spike in order to use the mana around her for an interruption of the girl's attack. Several mana pools formed from the streets below and under Cyclone, then released into several geysers that aimed to impact the girl's midsection, legs, and arms. With that step made and before Cyclone could reach her, Kiramire lowered her feet and then struck the ground in front of her with her left leg, causing the girl to dart back at incredible speeds in order to open up enough distance between the two. Kiramire keeps her sword close and her focus on the enemy even closer.
Lance watches the drones' cameras on several screens in front of him. For now, this newcomer seemed to be against the mercenary group. Which meant more distraction -- more chances for the drones to retrieve the package. Lance just had to find out what would cause such a massive fight in the middle of Antriquel. Then a moment of opportunity came while the motorcycle went into the air. "Now!" he commanded the drones, which immediately began speeding towards the bike in midair, aiming directly for the package that the man would be holding. If he was really lucky, there'd be a moment when it would leave his hands, to make for even easier retrieval.
Azar || From back left of Cyclone, a literal wall of solidified yellow light abruptly shot forward, intending to intercept the geysers of mana. Following that, a platform--similarly made of solidified light--formed dead center above the interception point, and on it stood Azar. /Nope, sorry./ he thought. Cocking his head up, two glints of light could be seen flashing from where his eyes would be under the hood. Raising his katars, he trained them on and around Kiramire. /Lux Barrage./ Then, with the speed of the fastest possible automatic arm, he unleashed a fury of light copies of his weapons all around her, each copy exploding on impact with whatever got in its way.
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Seems prepared to evade, but then Azar blocks it for her. With a slight grin at her ally's fortunate appearance, the girl leaps higher than a normal human should be able to and lands on the platform beside Azar. Looking down and getting ready to attack again, she speaks in a casual, polite voice.* Oh, there you are. Do you know where the other guy went?
Omen ) The motorcyclist had gone airbone, avoiding the explosions in front of them in the process. Fortunately, Variable had leapt into the air to intercept them. He began his movement once more, attempting to get back in range of his target. He then became slightly distracted as he noticed several objects speed toward the vehicle. It was obvious that their intent was the package the motorcyclist possessed. But no one working with him to attempt to retreive it possessed such drones. So who was this person? Some random person siding with them? Someone working with their fleeing target, attempting to get the package to their destination? Or someone after the package for themself? As strange as it was, if he focused on it too much, the target may take the chance to escape. His vector, cloaked in the mist, entered a new portal. This time, however, it wouldn't emerge near a building. This time, it would emerge several meters away from the motorcycle.
Azar spares a glance next to himself. Cyclone. "The biker? Couldn't tell you. Didn't see him leave myself." he responded, arms still doing the focused equivalent of flailing about madly as if something else was possessing them, "He still has the package, though, so should be easy to find if we, should I say, 'follow the explosions.'"
Kiramire remains where she is and percieves the increase in disturbances within her mana sense as incoming attacks. Alright. /I'll revert to basics if I have to./ she thought to herself, keeping her composure neutral although she can see the myriad of katars surrounding her and heading right at her from every point she could think of. Kiramire did not worry. During the split second before they made any impact, Kiramire let out a special exhale as several imprints all over her skin expressed themselves in a glory of dark orange light. /Veil: Strengthen surface space./ she commands, causing every inch of her body to take up a layer of mana commanded to act as an armor while the projectiles impacted her. Dust began to kick up along with chunks of rocks due to the expossions and harsh impacts. But then when it seemed to have started to clear, Kiramire darted up and out of the cloud with a literal whirlpool of mana swirling from her midsection down. The mana mirrors she had previously positioned prior to this fight redirected in order to aim at the duo from all angles, and with a slash of her blade, a shockwave of mana hit the mirrors, even causing the others to release their own mana slashes towards the two. Kiramire kept herself up in the whirlpool, awaiting the next move.
Dazenth sails through the air at an impossible speed, but his enemy is following his trajectory at similar speeds, head-on. Crap. Without Cyclone's support, and Azar who /knows/ where, he's on his own. The newcomer attacking him. His former attacker's "weapon" emerging from nowhere. And now what appear to be drones. This package isn't going anywhere at this rate. So there's only one thing he can do. Ignoring the vector and the drones, Dazenth aims his sword at Variable. At nearly point-blank range, when Dazenth would just be hit by the slash, he squeezes the trigger hard. The rest of his sword's energy cell depletes as it is all concentrated into a single, explosive attack at this enemy. The least he can do is kill someone on his way out.
Omen ) The motorcyclist seemed to have ignored Omen's vector as they then focused their attention on Variable. Taking advantage of this, the vector struck and punctured the side of the motorcycle. It would be retracted almost as fast as it had attacked the motorcycle, but its job had been done. The black mist had came in contact with the vehicle and began to spread across and within it.
Variable 's intent was not even to kill him, however. The distortions by the attacking blade had grown exponentially since it sailed in a horizontal arc, its intensity diminished severely but evenly distributed throughout its area of effect. The catalyst is set. "Times: Zero" he utters just before the moment of impact, the magical ring disintegrating from his second weapon as he does so. There is an intense ripple--a wave of distortion, more like, as intrinsic spatial information is extracted and rewired, stopping everything around Variable's immediate area. The man, the motorcycle, the inertia, the burst of energy, and even the vector comes into a screeching halt as it is subject to whatever Variable did. But his blade continues. It comes to strike Dazenth's side in an attack that is more forceful than inherently lethal, but still meant to incapacitate. He uses the momentum of the attack to practically launch the man off the vehicle and downwards into the ground, as gravity starts pulling them down, with Variable directing his landing near the man and pointing the steel blade at his throat.
Azar seems to let the mirror slashes hit him, but at the last second, he places a hand on Cyclone's shoulder and the two, along with the platform, flash out of the way. When the light clears, it looks as if, however, that Azar HAD taken a couple hits, as his hooded robe had clean gouges in it. However, that's where it stopped; underneath there were no such cuts. "Clever." he said flatly, "But not enough so." He then focused on the locale's ambient light, and changed how it interacted with the scenery around them, allowing him to see through objects that were previously opaque. He scouted around, coming to notice Dazenth and two others a few blocks away, and... "Found him, and he's in more than a pickle." he said, gesturing in the direction of Dazenth and Variable.
Lance ) for a moment, the drones seemed to be frozen, barely even sending information as the new guy did whatever it was he did. However, now, the mercenary was completely off the motorcycle. "Search for the package and retrieve it." he commanded the drones once they resumed their movement. In order to better get in position, Lance began to find elevated walkways to get on. "Now we'll see just what you're fighting over..."
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Nods at Azar's words, but she doesn't seem overly concerned.* We should go, then. If the enemy has taken posession of the package, we have to get it back. *No apparent regard for Dazenth, but it might just be a result of her focus. She starts running off, blade in hand.* Let's go, then!
Dazenth barely has time to notice that everything- except one of his enemies, naturally- has stopped. So he can do nothing to attack or defend himself against him. The blade strikes at his side in what is sure to be a lethal blow-- but, all it does is knock him to the ground. The bike falls- Dazenth sees a hole in its side and that mist everywhere; he'll have to fix that later. If he survives, that is. Because now there's a sword at his throat. The motorcyclist takes a moment to catch the breath that his fall had knocked out of him, glaring at Variable.
Variable looks at Dazenth directly, his eyes showing no malice or killing intent whatsoever. He makes a gesture towards Omen, indicating for him to keep the fallen man in check, as his other blade meets Dazenth's own weapon in a sweeping motion to disarm him. He ignores the drones for now. "Consider this a favor," he says, stepping away from him and towards the fallen motorcycle, now that he has gotten Omen's attention. "Nobody deserves to be a pawn." Examining the motorcycle in full, he awaits for the right moment. /...Initializing Axis Trace./ he commands.
Lance ) "What the hell?" Lance mumbled as the gruesome scene happened before his eyes, faster than he could do anything about it. Everyone around Lance was screaming and running away, but he just stood there -- at first in shock, but then he began to take something out of his oversized backpack. First came a strange set of goggles, then the gloves, one of which was already hanging outside the backpack. Putting on the gloves, then the goggles, he began to let his curiosity get the better of him.
Azar ) Watching from a nearby bench, the hooded and robed figure of Azar--with only feline ears and a tail protruding to give a rudimentary idea of exactly what he was, could be seen sitting one moment, then near-spontaneously standing the next. With a sandy furred hand over where his eyes would be if they were visible, he watched as Dazenth lowered his blade, then simply drove right through his victim. He scoffed. "Pffft, amateur."
Lance: "Power on." he said flatly, and in front of him the black turned to a blue-tinted visual of the area as recorded with the camera connected to the goggles. "Connect to camera network," he said as it booted up fully. From here he'd be able to track the guy. Sure it was dangerous, but he was far to curious about this guy. To be audacious enough to kill someone in public... After swiping through several screens, he finall found him driving through the screens, and followed the general path he took
Dazenth sheathes his blade again before driving into more populated and busy areas of the city, a motorcycle helmet now on his head. "Too easy," He mutters, glancing at a display near the speedometer of his motorcycle as he slows slightly. The hits really were getting easy- all in a day's work, and pay is pay, but sometimes he craves a little challenge. /Ah well. Better find the contractee soon. Sooner I tell him the target's down, sooner I get paid./
Kiramire )In the height of the day, high boots clacked through the masses with ease. A white tail tipped with a dark grey patch of fur waved through as a pair of white fox ears twitched in the presence of many foreign noises. Walking among the masses dressed in a heavy dark grey dress jacket and long stockings was none other than Ms. Kiramire Alkerheim glaring down each person with an intense scarlet authoritarian look. Her white hair flowed through the winds as she then stopped and put down the blunt end of her blade to the ground, then turning her head at the road to observe a speeding man in his motorcycle. But that was the least of her concerns as she senses a body drop right in front of her, shivering in fear as the crowds ignored the two in broad daylight. They didn't exist. Kiramire's voice called out to the man, human and in his 40s, cowering just a few inches away from her very feet. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes narrow, a slight imprint of energy escaping her irises.
Azar , after a brief laugh at the situation, fumbled around in a well-hidden pocket in his robe, and pulled out a cleverly-disguised digital timepiece. "Fuck. Forgot I have to meet him soon." he said, remembering his meeting with a possible client in town. A smile would be visible beneath the hood if anything was visible. "Best get going, then." With a rather mute flash of light, he seemed to vanish.
Kiramire: Person: *Out of sheer fear, the man does not look directly at her. Instead his hands dart up and clasp together* Ms. Al-Alkerheim....I was told to look for you...t-to confess the sins I have just made to betray your trust. *He cries out. The crowds of people moving past them kept going without any clue* I-I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY I SPOKE! THEY PROMISED A PLEA DEAL AND NOW SVEN IS IN PRISON!
Kiramire finally inches her head down slightly to see the man. A cold glare soon ensued. "How much was it?" The man looked up with a confused expression. Kiramire expanded on her query. "How much was it to sell out that poor man?" Several whizzing noises pierced the open atmosphere, causing some of the concrete they were standing on to crack slightly. She looks at the man with intensifying disgust.
Dazenth comes to a fluid halt in front of an alley, another man already standing there, as if waiting exactly for Dazenth. The mercenary doesn't get off of his motorcycle or remove the helmet, simply watching the man in return. There are a few seconds of silence, before the contractee grins slightly. "That was fast."
Omen ) A lone figure watched the chaos unfold, sitting on the roof of a nearby building. In appearance, he was monochromatic, from his white and black hair, to the grey and black clothes he wore. Even his eyes were gray, riddled with a tooth-like pattern transitioning from the iris to the pupil. But his eyes showed an uncaring expression, as unlike the panicking people below, he could care less that someone was killed out of the blue. In fact, he seemed more interested in rearranging twelve of the thirteen black rings scattered across his fingers. "What a pointless ruckus," he spoke. "It's just someone dying. It's not like it's the end of the world or anything." He then glanced back down as someone was now shouting about a completely unrelated matter. He sighed as his arrangements seemed to be completed, and got onto his feet. "Well, it definitely looks like nothing interesting is happening here." He glanced in the direction he saw the motorcyclist drive off in. "... However..."
Kiramire: Person: F-Forty six....thousand.......th​ats how much they o--- *Suddenly he feels the ridiculous power of the woman's hand grabbing onto his hair and forcing him to look up. The roots of his hair along with some pieces of skin began to rip right off as a mess of blood began to flow down his forehead* Ms-- MS. ALKERHEIM!! *There he saw it. Her eyes dripping with venom. Yet her expression was a solid neutral. Regal. Unwavering*
Dazenth doesn't move. "It was easy enough. I left the body there, but I'm sure you'll hear about it in the news." Another several seconds of silence. "Now, my pay?"
Lance sees on one of the screens that the motorcycle rider has stopped. Even as he was walking, Lance motioned his finger to a button that only he could see that would activate sound in the area of the camera, picking up signals from the camera itself, and whatever other technology happened to be nearby. "Now what are you doing?"
Dazenth: ???: Ah right, of course... *The man reaches into a jacket pocket and pulls out a pouch and a small box.* ... But, be patient for a minute or so, /Mourning Blade/ as you call yourself. *Dazenth narrows his eyes, but says nothing.* I have another job for you, but I'm waiting on someone first.
Azar ) Breaking out of his light-masked run with yet another flash, Azar slowed to a stop behind the man Dazenth was meeting with. He chuckled with no audible undertone. "I'm here. What did you--" he says, cutting himself off when he realised who else was there, "... you're here too? I wasn't told there was more than one."
Kiramire gently throws up her blade and connects her right palm on the side of the man's head. With one swift turn the man's head cracks and is then completely ripped off. The woman tosses the useless part aside as she turns her back. "Disgusting how loyalty can be marred by mere greed." Kiramire looked back and spat aside, then putting out her hand to catch the blade. Her entire demenor was solid at best, almost as if she has seen or done this before. The event of blood pouring out the torn flesh and bone of such a beheading did not phase her. Rather, it kept her gaze calm and focused. Intrigued, more like it. Her open hand began to build up a swirling vortex of an orange colored energy while she turned her head back. /The fool complicated things for us. Tch./ And with a swift motion, several fragments of mana began engulfing the man, consuming him completely as the crimson sanguine liquid began to flow right towards her gloves. Kiramire gave a nod and began walking away. Her hand gave another wave, revealing nothing left in the area except a wavering field in space. They were cloaked the entire time.
Dazenth ignores Azar, but the contractee nods with a chuckle before tossing the pouch at the motorcyclist, who catches it easily. "I need this box delivered to a certain address, and I need it done tonight. You'll both be paid, of course. If you can do it without damaging or losing the contents of the box."
Azar cracks a smile, albeit it isn't visible from underneath his hood. "Not a problem." Waving his hand, he seemed to blink in front of the man. "The address?"
Dazenth: ???: *Hands a slip of paper to Azar with the address on it* I also have a third person to serve as an escort of sorts to ensure the safety of the box. You will meet her tonight.
--- Timeskip ---
Dazenth speeds through the nighttime streets of Antriquel, the streetlights gleaming off of the side of his motorcycle. With Azar behind him, the box in a side compartment, and a girl who simply introduced herself as "Cyclone" somewhere above them, the motorcyclist figures this job must be fairly easy. The contents of the box are probably valuable enough to warrant a team of three to deliver it, but why bother, really? It's just a glorified mail order.
Lance follows after the two, the gloves adjusting his route with each turn that they make. However, Lance was beginning to get out of breath. "I should really get out more," he said to nobody in particular. And it showed in his pale skin and very slim build. However, he was too curious to let up. At least he seemed to have shorter route to wherever they were going judging by how they were moving currently.
Omen ) Glancing toward the group as they sped forward, Omen made the last of his rearrangements to his rings. A second had passed, and the rings began to pulsate, and his hands became cloaked in a wavering, black mist. With a wave of his hands, this mist was hurled toward his intended targets. Some of this mist spread across the windows of the building, causing them to crack and eventually break into glass shards. Sections of the buildings it touched began to weaken. It seemed the intent of the mist was to bring misfortune to anything it touched. Which was what was about to happen to its intended targets.
Dazenth continues speeding, but a female voice comes through the radio on the bike. "Ground team, you have at least two tails, possibly a third. One's on the building you just passed." Cyclone's voice is urgent, and Dazenth glances back to see... the black mist... and a figure standing atop a building. "Get down!" he barks to Azar, before turning slightly, drawing his blade, and slashing it towards the figure. Several blades of green energy flies out towards the attacker, and the energy cell on the blade glows brightly. Dazenth makes a sharp turn to avoid the mist, planning to circle back and pick up his passenger again.
Azar 's ear twitched at the sound of glass breaking. Turning his head, he saw a strange black mist spreading, as wellas seemingly hurtling towards him and Dazenth. "... Mist doesn't do that..." he said, preparing to jump off the bike, "Break!" There was then a flash, and the next moment, Azar could be seen flying through the air, holding two ornately-decorated katar punching daggers.
Lance: "What was that?" Lance said as one of the cameras he was using to watch the group on the motorcycle was first covered in a strange mist, then went completely out, as if it were turned off -- or destroyed. "Track irregularity" he told the goggles. After several backtracking videos of a mist forming around the buildings, he thought he saw the source of it, but couldn't make out any figure. All he knew is that it was targetting the people on the motorcycle, probably after the package they carried. He began running to their location. It was only a few blocks away, so he'd have a little to time to figure out what he planned to do.
Omen watched as his targets reacted to this mist he had released, one of them leaping from the motorcycle, and the other targetting him with green energy blades. However, these blades would not hit their target as expected. In a blur, the blades countered and knocked back down. He soon became surrouned by a lengthy psychokinetic limb extending from his upper spine. He then glanced over to the person that had flown out from the motorcycle, seemingly uninterested in him as his eyes darted back down to the motorcyclist. "Deal with this one," he then spoke, seemingly to no one in particular as he then seemed to have vanished from his current location.
Dazenth circles back to where Azar leapt off, looking around. "You, get back on." As Dazenth scans the area for more opposition, Cyclone's voice comes through the radio again. "You didn't hit him. I think he may still be after you, but he's vanished. I'll take care of him when he appears; for now, get that box to the correct address before your other tails decide to catch up."
Kiramire unsheathed her blade when the sounds of the motorcycle were picked up by her ears. /There they are./ She closes her red-orange eyes while she kept walking down a street nearby the one Dazenth was on, seeming to build up her concentration to something in particular in the the air. Suddenly a couple of spacial ripples began to form above the motorcycle man and Azar. Briliant orange chains of mana began stabbing into the ground like anchors in front of Dazenth. Their overall forms wavering as a powerful blast of mana then traveled down the chains to form a powerful wall of force to blockade them. With each passing moment a couple more anchor chains shot down to the ground, then released blasts of mana towards their target. It seemed that the only way out of there was a lone street connecting to the one they were in.
Azar simply landed back on the motorcycle. Then, looking around at their current situation, he realised they were cordoned off... except for one sidestreet. He didn't like this one bit. "Don't attempt the sidestreet; I know enough to realise this is a trap."
Dazenth glances back at Azar as he drives several meters away from the blockade. "Don't think I know that? There's nowhere else to go, anyway." As soon as he finishes speaking, Cyclone chimes in again. "Don't worry about it, I'll cover you if they attack. Just don't lose the package." Dazenth nods silently, keeping his blade in one hand and steering the bike with the other, as he bolts down the sidestreet at an incredibly high speed.
Omen reappeared on a nearby building overlooking the sidestreet. Because of Kiramire's blockade, they were likely to come down this way in order to reach their destination. "Predictable," he muttered as he then released more of the mist toward the sidestreet. This time, it wasn't aimed for his targets, but the ground itself, causing the streets to suddenly buckle as the mist spread across it.
Dazenth speeds for the only exit anyway, crouching low on the motorcycle. The streets are buckling. He's headed straight for the mist. If he turns around now, he can definitely avoid it, but then he's trapped. As he weighs the pros and cons, suddenly a shimmering platform- no, a /ramp/- forms in front of him. His speed carries him onto it easily and he recognizes that this is a forcefield. What's more, the forcefield not only goes clean over the mist, but a ceiling and walls are quickly developing, effectively creating a tunnel for him. Cyclone is audibly giggling over the static of the radio. "That's it, you should be momentarily safe from that. Now keep going and don't slow down until you start falling--!" She says this last part as his momentum carries him straight out of the tunnel, flying high into the air to at least his assailant's level.
Kiramire jumps off the ledge of a building and lands gracefully at the ground. Her blade swished back as she could feel the vibrations of the motorcycle heading down the street at a constant high speed. Her intention wasn't much for fighting by her posture, it was more towards observing a couple of strange people tonight. Her eyes narrowed and glowed as her blade vanished. But then she felt a disturbance within her field of vibrational and mana sense reach. Something formed and the motorcycle was no longer there. Or was it. /Heh. Interesting? Interesting. They couldn't have vanished, no. They must still be there./ Kiramire smirked and began walking, effortlessly dodging every crack and piece of street that was buckling with relative ease. The erevan woman began to focus. Suddenly, a myriad of fine thin lines of mana manifested in front of Dazenth, particularly placed in a way to specifically ensnare whoever was in that particular space by the way they crossed and surrounded the man. Each thread also touched down on the ground and strengthened. "I suggest you all should respect those compressed tethers. As in...don't you dare cut them. You /will/ regret it." Kiramire called out with a firm, authorative voice to nobody in particular.
Omen watched as the motorcycle shot into the air as the rider managed to avoid the buckling streets. Still, they weren't completely out of the woods yet, as thin lines of mana appeared in front of the motorcylist in an attempt to capture him. Attempting to take advantage of this, he then spread more of the mist a few feet in front of him. He then sharpened the end of his psychokinetic limb, which then sped off, passing through the mist and becoming cloaked in it as it blurred toward its target's motorcycle.
Dazenth ) "Tch." He slows his fall, attempting to pivot his bike in midair- but, almost impossibly, the same shimmering platform formed in front and below him, providing a hasty escape from the path that would have taken him into the trap. The path forms several meters in front of him as he goes along, creating a shining, floating road just for him high above the nighttime city. This must look like quite a spectacle from below, but he doesn't care. The cyclist's attention is drawn away as /missles/ appear from a seemingly random point in the sky, aiming to both intercept Omen's vector attack and pummel the Diclonius himself. "Stay on the move," Cyclone orders, her voice suddenly sharp. Looks like she's snapped into focus now.
Lance ) Everything was happening so fast. This was way more than anything Lance had dealt with before -- he wasn't used to doing stuff like this. However, both sides seemed to have some unseen support. However, the motorcycle group's support was far more mysterious. The new structures -- and now missiles -- appearing before the driver... Lance had to find their source. He then began to scour through camera after camera, dozens by the second, until he saw... something in the sky.
Lance holds out his hands in front of him. "Drones, activate." With that commands, small robots began to detach from his gloves. "Investigate anomaly seen in camera 463." Immediately, they began to fly off into the direction of whatever it was that Lance saw. "Prepare Tesla coils, in case of hostility."
Omen glanced up as he noticed a- no, several objects being launched toward him. Missiles, perhaps? "Tch." The target was getting away, but at the same time, these missiles presented a problem. But soon, they were in striking distance. For him. His psychokinetic shot upward to intercept and destroyed the missiles. But even one of them would be enough for this task. Suddenly, something else blurred from his upper spine. A second psychokinetic races to destroy the missiles the first could not. He then retracted both of the limbs as he then focused back upon his retreating target. He then shot one of his limbs in a different direction, its edge sharpened as it pierced into a building. He then began to pull himself toward the edge of his limb. As he was close enough to it, he shot his second limb toward another building and retracted the first as he then began to repeat this process in an attempt to catch up to the rider.
Dazenth ) "Turn a sharp left, away from the building. I need to see if those things have a finite range." Cyclone's voice is as focused as before, and Dazenth nods. His path veers away from the Diclonius and starts to take a steep climb, while the path behind him fades out. Cyclone is about to issue more orders when... something approaches her by air, hits an invisible wall, and disintegrates. Drones from one of the ground tails, who she had not before noticed. The girl mutters a quiet curse, checks on Dazenth's status, and veers away from her previous position. She made a mistake with the missiles, but her forcefields are keeping her hidden. For now at least. "Ascend ten meters more and continue course to the destination."
Kiramire did not even react to the tethers being avoided. Her footing kept at a solid pace while her lips parted. Kiramire began taking in breaths at a specific interval and manner, letting out concentrated and compressed exhales through her teeth. /Alright./ She thinks, then as she takes another breath, a swirl of mana began developing under her boots. Sparks of the energy danced around while the Ereva woman kept her breaths consistant. With her fingers curling inwards, the sparks traveled up her body until a single finger pointed up at the sky. "Go." Then a flash happened as one would if someone were taking a picture with a camera. With all the mana around Kiramire, the initial flash was a medium used to extend her perception and range by a lot. Anything that was a solid highlighted as a black silhouette for a split second. While its range expanded, Kiramire closed her eyes and saw the reaches of the flash in her mind. She saw Dazenth's silhouette, Omen's, and two new people she had not truly given her effort or attention to. Retracting her finger, she breaks off to a sprint. Kiramire begins to will the mana around her to form individual javelin projectiles to shoot up at the sky, particularly at Cyclone as a test measure of her abilities.
Omen continued his chase after the rider, watching him make a sharp left turn and... steeply ascend? /He's going to climb out of my range.../ He looked up toward the rider, and as he did, he began to consider something. /... Hrm... But even then, with how fast he's going.../ Still, it was an idea, and he had to try something to slow this guy down. He glanced up, trying to find a good position behind the motorcylist. He then retracted both of his psychokinetic limbs. As he began to descend, he then extended both of his hands in the direction of his descent. He then created a portal in this spot, which he then fell into. A new portal then appeared several meters above and behind the motorcylists, from his he emerged. His two psychokinetic limbs, the edges of which where sharpened and cloaked in the black mist, reemerged from his upper spine and shot toward the motorcycle.
Dazenth glances at the sky where Cyclone must be as a barrage of Javelins shoots towards a particular point in empty space. The different panels of the forcefield that keeps her hidden light up as they are stricken- one shatters and is instantly replaced- And Cyclone makes a noise of consternation. "Tch. This is bad. We're getting attacked from all sides, and while my forcefields will keep attacks to myself at bay, I'm not sure I'll have the power reserves to keep both of us in perfect-- WATCH OUT!" Dazenth turns at the exact moment Cyclone shouts this, blades of glowing green energy slashing at the Diclonius as Dazenth purposefully veers off the course Cyclone had set up for him, falling at a speed even gravity should not manage. He should get out of the vector range easily, but how in hell did that guy catch up so fast? Dazenth is forced to worry about his immediate situation, though, and keeps an eye on the approaching ground. Hell, he has to time this right if he wants to both stay out of range and survive the impact.
Kiramire could feel the javelins impact an unseen force, causing her lips to curve slightly. Without a word she places herself close by to where Cyclone was stationed at as her eyes glowed. /Mirror's edge./ On cue, spacial distortions began forming, causing curved "mirrors" of mana to manifest arround Cyclone, more specifically at her forcefield. The javelins kept coming as she then flicked her wrist, causing the compressed force of mana within the projectiles to increase. When they hit their intended target, they immediately shot back down towards the mirrors. The curvature of such mirrors allowed the javelins to slingshot right back up to keep repeating the same barrage of overwhelming attacks and at the same time increasing their velocity with each passing moment they made contact with the mirrors.
Lance ) One of the drones went offline. Lance knew immediately it had been destroyed, but by what? His answer came when he saw the javelins of energy strike the otherwise barely visible field. "So that's it. I wonder how you deal with this." He said, referring to whoever was in that field. "Access power grid." With that, a map came up in his fieldof vision, showing how power was connected to the area. He then moved his hand so that it would touch areas of the power grid, creating a large area that was highlighted. "Cut power to these areas. Disable backup generators." Lance smiled. Within just theamount of time it would take substations to power down, nearly the entire district would go dark. Of course, with his system, it wouldn't hinder himself at all. Surely this would at least slow him down. If it didn't, it would definitely make him more vulnerable
Omen curved his psychokinetic limbs back toward himself to deflect the energy blades. He then focused back his falling target, retracting his psychokinetic limbs as he then opened a new portal beneath himself. His psychokinetic limbs retracted, blurring into the portal as he fell into it himself. The limbs shot out of a new portal closer to the ground, slashing at the ground several times before wrapping around a nearby lamppost. As this occured, the mist cloaking the edges of the limbs spread onto the streets, causing it to buckle as he was dragged toward the lamppost. He allowed himself to be swung around the lamppost, and landed on the side of a nearby building as both limbs remained latched onto it.
Dazenth hears frustrated grumblings from the other end of the radio as Cyclone attempts to deflect the javelins and the cyclist's assailant follows him down. "That thing has a /lethal range/ of at least twenty meters, attempt to maintain double that distance." Cyclone is flustered. He hears an extremely static-corrupted curse from her end as his motorcycle slows dramatically, lightly touches ground, and zips off at an incredible speed, using the bumps in the damaged street to gain momentum and height. It's like a skateboard obstacle course, but on a much larger scale. All he knows is two things. One, the radio has now gone to dead static. Two, he needs to stay as far away as possible from an enemy that can apparently portal around to follow him and has such a long lethal range. Dazenth crouches down lower to the handlebars, trying to outspeed his pursuer. "This job better pay well," he mutters.
Dazenth: *Cyclone, meanwhile, is having her own difficulties. Once she realizes what is happening, she insteads send out missiles to destroy the oncoming attack instead of letting them deflect and rebound. She glances at Dazenth's status screen and bites her lip. "That thing has a /lethal range/ of at least twenty meters, attempt to maintain double that distance." And suddenly the missiles begin to slow in frequency and speed. Is her power...? ... No, it's charged, but it seems to be getting cut off, and now the area in general is going dark. Her displays dim momentarily and she understands what is happening. "... Shit." Thankfully, she is being kept afloat by magic, not electricity, but her forcefields... Cyclone bites her lip again. She had no choice. Disconnecting from her skyborn powerstation, she begins to remove a long, almost flat, black object from the connector beside her. The power station begins to drop slowly. "... No choice." She removes the object entirely, and the power station plummets, but the girl herself seems to be floating down as lightly as a feather... though she is now visible.*
Omen retracted one of his psychokinetic limbs, and then glanced toward the path the motorcyclist had taken. He then rereleased his psychokinetic, aiming toward a nearby building. He then resumed his previous method of using his psychokinetic limbs to grapple between buildings to catch up with him. But with the motorcyclist speeding up in an attempt to stay out of his range, he had to get a bit more creative. At this point, he then began to create portals into which his psychokinetic limbs shot, being brought out slightly further ahead than previously.
Kiramire ) "So I've finally smoked you out. " A voice called out. The mirrors of mana began to distort before turning on Cyclone. A strange orange light began to shine on her form like stage lights before Kiramire slammed the end of her sheathed katana down on the ground and connected her gaze at the girl. Lips parted again in order to sustain her constant flow of strange breathing.
Variable || There as a loud hum as a vibration of distortional forces ripples through the one-way street Dazenth is currently in. It is a vertical wave with great slashing force, wide enough to crash into the motorcycle rider's entire mass, but he should be able to veer into either side to avoid it. A figure in the distance, standing in the middle of the darkening streets, lowers one his raised swords, his steel-colored eyes practically piercing into the path--or target, specifically. He should appear in any second now. No, more importantly, /it/ should be with him. He narrows his eyes, sending a command into the blade. /Initializing Axis Trace./ A ring of materialized information forms around the blade of the unused, black-colored sword, which contrasts with the gleaming metal of the other. It is quickly followed by a second, and a third. He readies the weapon, as if about to slash something invisible. "Time to end this."
Lance ) The lights of this district of antriquel dimmed quickly, and now it was nearly pitch black. However yet again one more thing appeared in the fray. "This just keeps getting bigger." Lance said with a slight whine as he looked at the drones' night mode screens. "Looks like I finally got in over my head. I wonder what side this one's on..." For a moment, Lance just stood there notsure what to do, but soon remembered thepackage once again. "All drones, go after the motorcycle and try to retrieve the package. Cut him off wherever possible." With that, the Drones began to fly off, in different diretions in case he turned unexpectedly. Lance sighed. "I guess I can't just give up now."
Dazenth narrowly avoids death several times over as he swerves around the vectors coming at him, but he's been doing this for years. Maybe not put up against psychokinetic limbs that move faster than he can see, but the principle is the same. A single wrong turn, being a split second too fast or too slow, and he's a corpse on a trash can with wheels. Once he has a clear shot he shoots forward, keeping an eye out for more attacks. A glance down most sidestreets reveal things he doesn't want to deal with, so he just moves forward. And then-- "Oh, what is /this/ shit now," Dazenth mutters. /Where do they keep coming from and how fucking valuable is this thing?/
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Lightly touches down, the object held before her. It is a fine, serrated longsword with a gleaming silver edge and ragged, almost key-like teeth.* I don't think you can take all the credit, *She says playfully, her gaze sliding momentarily to the man with the drones. Her eyes return to Kiramire.* Granted, though. You can smoke a beehive to get the bees to calm down, and you can capture them. *Her stance widens. She intends to fight.* I think this time, though, you might have found a hornet's nest.
Kiramire lifted up her blade and shifted it to her side. It's material was of an outworldly black that did not refract any light. No details what so ever could be made out on its surface. Though with Cyclone's words, Kiramire felt a little smirk form on her lips. Her enemy, her target, did not seem agitated nor afraid. She wanted to fight. Kiramire spread her feet out slightly and stood on her tip toes a bit in a preparating of what is to come. The girl's blade was an interesting one, causing her to narrow her eyes until speaking. "Well, I guess this is why they call me The Blackbird." Her blade goes up to the side of her face. "En garde."
Variable watches the motorcycle rider avoid the initial attack, as expected. "Array: Ignite." And he slashes at nothing with the readied blade, rings of magical code glowing a fiery red before disintegrating into nothing. The effect is instantaneous. A cluster of visible slashes rip through the air and spread outwards several meters in front of Dazenth's position, covering the entire width of the street and bursting into a sequence of explosions. Variable instantly starts forward at inhuman speed, both swords at the ready and on the look for the slightest change.
Omen heard a sudden loud hum, glancing down the street to noticing a wave coming from the direction both he and the motorcyclist were moving. And further down was a long figure. But he didn't concern himself with it that much, seeing as it was someone he knew. Someone he expected to be there anyway. /Just as expected./ He suddenly stopped himself on the side of a building as he then witnessed a series of explosions along the street, followed by the man charging toward their target. He rereleased his vector, cloaked in his black mist, sweeping it across the street behind the motorcyclist, and several paths into sidestreets. If the streets hadn't been damaged enough by the explosions, it was about to become considerably worse. Once this was accomplished, he then retracted his vector before launching it back toward the motorcyclist.
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Her own sword moves into a diagonal blocking position as Kiramire moves. Though thin, such a long sword must be too heavy for a girl of Cyclone's build to comfortably handly, but she wields it as if she had been her entire life.* I don't know what you want with the package, nor do I care. So let's just get this over with. *She lunges forward, barely touching the ground in her long jumping strides, before ending up in the air. Her knife-like blade comes crashing down for Kiramire's head, Cyclone pivoting in midair slightly in anticipaton of a counterattack.*
Dazenth continues moving forward. there's no going back, not with his former attacker behind him and an enemy rushing in from up ahead. But he sees the slashes about to cut off his route, blocking the only path he can take... The motorcyclist shakes his head. /Damn, do I really have to do this so early?/ There's nowhere to go. Or, rather, nowhere his enemy might expect him to go. Continuing to move forward, Dazenth twists to look behind him, aiming his sword at the road. His hand moves to grasp something near the hilt- a sort of second handle. Except it isn't a handle at all. Preparing himself for possible recoil, Dazenth squeezes the handle as if it were a trigger on a gun- and a burst of energy explodes out of the hole near the tip of the sword. The energy cell loses power dangerously, but the explosion propels him up and forwards, launching him over both the slashes and his attacker.
Variable leaps up, almost in sync with Dazenth's arc towards the sky. /Retrieving speed argument--/ The ground cracks under the pressure of the motion, with the black sword generating another magical ring around the blade as he does so. The other blade vibrates as his ascent reaches its peak of interception, generating visible disturbances in the air, and is then brought towards the rider in an incredibly powerful horizontal slash.
Kiramire anticipates the head on attack Cyclone seems to have prepared to do. Her quick observation of her posture and direction of her toes hinted of a direct attack, most likely to hit a vital of her body right away. Kiramire lets out a single breath as a low ringing hum sounded off, causing her concentration to spike in order to use the mana around her for an interruption of the girl's attack. Several mana pools formed from the streets below and under Cyclone, then released into several geysers that aimed to impact the girl's midsection, legs, and arms. With that step made and before Cyclone could reach her, Kiramire lowered her feet and then struck the ground in front of her with her left leg, causing the girl to dart back at incredible speeds in order to open up enough distance between the two. Kiramire keeps her sword close and her focus on the enemy even closer.
Lance watches the drones' cameras on several screens in front of him. For now, this newcomer seemed to be against the mercenary group. Which meant more distraction -- more chances for the drones to retrieve the package. Lance just had to find out what would cause such a massive fight in the middle of Antriquel. Then a moment of opportunity came while the motorcycle went into the air. "Now!" he commanded the drones, which immediately began speeding towards the bike in midair, aiming directly for the package that the man would be holding. If he was really lucky, there'd be a moment when it would leave his hands, to make for even easier retrieval.
Azar || From back left of Cyclone, a literal wall of solidified yellow light abruptly shot forward, intending to intercept the geysers of mana. Following that, a platform--similarly made of solidified light--formed dead center above the interception point, and on it stood Azar. /Nope, sorry./ he thought. Cocking his head up, two glints of light could be seen flashing from where his eyes would be under the hood. Raising his katars, he trained them on and around Kiramire. /Lux Barrage./ Then, with the speed of the fastest possible automatic arm, he unleashed a fury of light copies of his weapons all around her, each copy exploding on impact with whatever got in its way.
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Seems prepared to evade, but then Azar blocks it for her. With a slight grin at her ally's fortunate appearance, the girl leaps higher than a normal human should be able to and lands on the platform beside Azar. Looking down and getting ready to attack again, she speaks in a casual, polite voice.* Oh, there you are. Do you know where the other guy went?
Omen ) The motorcyclist had gone airbone, avoiding the explosions in front of them in the process. Fortunately, Variable had leapt into the air to intercept them. He began his movement once more, attempting to get back in range of his target. He then became slightly distracted as he noticed several objects speed toward the vehicle. It was obvious that their intent was the package the motorcyclist possessed. But no one working with him to attempt to retreive it possessed such drones. So who was this person? Some random person siding with them? Someone working with their fleeing target, attempting to get the package to their destination? Or someone after the package for themself? As strange as it was, if he focused on it too much, the target may take the chance to escape. His vector, cloaked in the mist, entered a new portal. This time, however, it wouldn't emerge near a building. This time, it would emerge several meters away from the motorcycle.
Azar spares a glance next to himself. Cyclone. "The biker? Couldn't tell you. Didn't see him leave myself." he responded, arms still doing the focused equivalent of flailing about madly as if something else was possessing them, "He still has the package, though, so should be easy to find if we, should I say, 'follow the explosions.'"
Kiramire remains where she is and percieves the increase in disturbances within her mana sense as incoming attacks. Alright. /I'll revert to basics if I have to./ she thought to herself, keeping her composure neutral although she can see the myriad of katars surrounding her and heading right at her from every point she could think of. Kiramire did not worry. During the split second before they made any impact, Kiramire let out a special exhale as several imprints all over her skin expressed themselves in a glory of dark orange light. /Veil: Strengthen surface space./ she commands, causing every inch of her body to take up a layer of mana commanded to act as an armor while the projectiles impacted her. Dust began to kick up along with chunks of rocks due to the expossions and harsh impacts. But then when it seemed to have started to clear, Kiramire darted up and out of the cloud with a literal whirlpool of mana swirling from her midsection down. The mana mirrors she had previously positioned prior to this fight redirected in order to aim at the duo from all angles, and with a slash of her blade, a shockwave of mana hit the mirrors, even causing the others to release their own mana slashes towards the two. Kiramire kept herself up in the whirlpool, awaiting the next move.
Dazenth sails through the air at an impossible speed, but his enemy is following his trajectory at similar speeds, head-on. Crap. Without Cyclone's support, and Azar who /knows/ where, he's on his own. The newcomer attacking him. His former attacker's "weapon" emerging from nowhere. And now what appear to be drones. This package isn't going anywhere at this rate. So there's only one thing he can do. Ignoring the vector and the drones, Dazenth aims his sword at Variable. At nearly point-blank range, when Dazenth would just be hit by the slash, he squeezes the trigger hard. The rest of his sword's energy cell depletes as it is all concentrated into a single, explosive attack at this enemy. The least he can do is kill someone on his way out.
Omen ) The motorcyclist seemed to have ignored Omen's vector as they then focused their attention on Variable. Taking advantage of this, the vector struck and punctured the side of the motorcycle. It would be retracted almost as fast as it had attacked the motorcycle, but its job had been done. The black mist had came in contact with the vehicle and began to spread across and within it.
Variable 's intent was not even to kill him, however. The distortions by the attacking blade had grown exponentially since it sailed in a horizontal arc, its intensity diminished severely but evenly distributed throughout its area of effect. The catalyst is set. "Times: Zero" he utters just before the moment of impact, the magical ring disintegrating from his second weapon as he does so. There is an intense ripple--a wave of distortion, more like, as intrinsic spatial information is extracted and rewired, stopping everything around Variable's immediate area. The man, the motorcycle, the inertia, the burst of energy, and even the vector comes into a screeching halt as it is subject to whatever Variable did. But his blade continues. It comes to strike Dazenth's side in an attack that is more forceful than inherently lethal, but still meant to incapacitate. He uses the momentum of the attack to practically launch the man off the vehicle and downwards into the ground, as gravity starts pulling them down, with Variable directing his landing near the man and pointing the steel blade at his throat.
Azar seems to let the mirror slashes hit him, but at the last second, he places a hand on Cyclone's shoulder and the two, along with the platform, flash out of the way. When the light clears, it looks as if, however, that Azar HAD taken a couple hits, as his hooded robe had clean gouges in it. However, that's where it stopped; underneath there were no such cuts. "Clever." he said flatly, "But not enough so." He then focused on the locale's ambient light, and changed how it interacted with the scenery around them, allowing him to see through objects that were previously opaque. He scouted around, coming to notice Dazenth and two others a few blocks away, and... "Found him, and he's in more than a pickle." he said, gesturing in the direction of Dazenth and Variable.
Lance ) for a moment, the drones seemed to be frozen, barely even sending information as the new guy did whatever it was he did. However, now, the mercenary was completely off the motorcycle. "Search for the package and retrieve it." he commanded the drones once they resumed their movement. In order to better get in position, Lance began to find elevated walkways to get on. "Now we'll see just what you're fighting over..."
Dazenth: Cyclone: *Nods at Azar's words, but she doesn't seem overly concerned.* We should go, then. If the enemy has taken posession of the package, we have to get it back. *No apparent regard for Dazenth, but it might just be a result of her focus. She starts running off, blade in hand.* Let's go, then!
Dazenth barely has time to notice that everything- except one of his enemies, naturally- has stopped. So he can do nothing to attack or defend himself against him. The blade strikes at his side in what is sure to be a lethal blow-- but, all it does is knock him to the ground. The bike falls- Dazenth sees a hole in its side and that mist everywhere; he'll have to fix that later. If he survives, that is. Because now there's a sword at his throat. The motorcyclist takes a moment to catch the breath that his fall had knocked out of him, glaring at Variable.
Variable looks at Dazenth directly, his eyes showing no malice or killing intent whatsoever. He makes a gesture towards Omen, indicating for him to keep the fallen man in check, as his other blade meets Dazenth's own weapon in a sweeping motion to disarm him. He ignores the drones for now. "Consider this a favor," he says, stepping away from him and towards the fallen motorcycle, now that he has gotten Omen's attention. "Nobody deserves to be a pawn." Examining the motorcycle in full, he awaits for the right moment. /...Initializing Axis Trace./ he commands.